


Beyond the Shadows

by hyuckwrld



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Secret Agent!Jungwoo, Violence, a good amount of angst i think, comedic relief, implied johnten norenmin and others probably, slow updates 🙃 it really wasn't supposed to take this long
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-31 15:19:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19428667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyuckwrld/pseuds/hyuckwrld
Summary: Whether it's by good look or destiny, Jungwoo was able to avoid his death. The catch is, he now has to decide if he wants to stay and fight alongside his contingent or return to his sister, who's now alone, and risk the chance of dying for good.-Alternatively titled: "They say attitudes don't get you anywhere, but it got me a get out of death free card" -Ten





	Beyond the Shadows

The night is quiet. Many find the complete silence eerie, but to Jungwoo, silence means that he's safe. At least that's what he thought it meant before he had a gun pressed against his temple by a man who seemed to have no intention of letting him go.

"Why are you here? Who sent you?" the man's voice is gruff as he speaks. His tone serious, ordering Jungwoo to answer.

"I'm sure you already know." Jungwoo loosens his muscles in an attempt to stay calm. Over the many years of which Jungwoo has been working this damn job, he has never once been caught stealing documents until now.

"Speak up, you fucking rat," the man demands, pressing the gun harder against Jungwoo's head.

Jungwoo winces, "I'm not telling you shit." He closes his eyes tightly when he hears the gun click next to him. Tensing in preparation for the shot, Jungwoo goes through any possible ways to avoid a bullet to his head only to realize that nothing he has learned from his agency could help him. He waits for a moment, wondering why a bullet has yet to pierce his brain. Suddenly, a breeze sweeps through his hair and flutters around his body. Confused, Jungwoo opens one of his eyes and scans the area surrounding him. He definitely wasn't here a moment ago. Instead of being in the well-furnished house he was in before, he is outside surrounded by dark, yet seemingly faded grass and a single, tall tree. The darkness around him doesn't seem natural. Everything is its right color, but a shade or two duller. "Uhm, hello?" Jungwoo takes a step forward. "Is anyone here? Where am I?"

Rustling from the tree immediately alerts Jungwoo of someone's presence. His head shoots up to search for anything residing in the tree, but by the time he's scanning the twisted branches, he hears a voice from behind him.

"I brought you here."

Turning around quickly, Jungwoo is once again unable to spot the mysterious person speaking. He unconsciously reaches towards his pocket, planning to pull out his knife and threaten whoever is talking to him. "Where is 'here' and who are you?"

Tapping Jungwoo on the shoulder, the man speaks again. "You can think of the place you are in now as an escape from death. I am Doyoung, leader of Chicanery. I want to recruit you for my contingent."

"Contingent? Escape from death? What are you talking about?" Jungwoo looks at Doyoung with wide, unbelieving eyes. Even if this place doesn't exactly look like Earth, it's hard to believe he's anywhere else.

"You'll understand soon. Just follow me, I'll show you around."

"I will not follow you; I don't even know who you are." Jungwoo goes to grip onto his knife only to find that it's gone.

"Looking for this?" Doyoung lifts his knife with a straight face.

"How did you get that."

"As I said, I'm the leader of Chicanery." Doyoung hands Jungwoo the knife before walking forward towards the tree. "Now, follow me."

Jungwoo hesitates for a moment. A stranger is requesting that he follows him even though there's is nothing around the two besides an open field of grass and a tree. "What is there to show me? The ground?" He says, clicking his tongue. "I need to get back home; I'm sure my family is waiting," the blond lies comfortably.

A chuckle leaves the black-haired male's mouth, "It seems that you'll fit right in." Before Jungwoo can question what in the hell he means by that, Doyoung walks up to the tree and places a hand in the middle of the trunk. The scenery around him changes, and he is, once again, in a room, but unlike the nicely decorated house that he was in previously, this room was almost entirely empty. All four walls are covered by a gray, plastic material that goes down to the floor. Besides the two, the only items in the room are a huge screen placed against the wall furthest from the door and a fancy looking computer in the corner.

Jungwoo turns to face Doyoung with a curious expression, "What is this room?"

"It would be too hard to explain as of now. I'll answer any questions you have after I show you the rest of the building." Doyoung walks towards the door and looks back at Jungwoo, "Are you coming?"

"I guess." Jungwoo walks behind Doyoung, following him out of the room. They enter a hallway before turning right and walking down a small staircase. When reaching the bottom, Jungwoo recognizes the area as a living room. A few people who were conversing between themselves turn to face the two males.

"If you couldn't tell, this is the living room of the building. If we're not training or sleeping, we are more than likely here. Meet Donghyuck, Renjun, and Ten, " Doyoung explains, gesturing to each person as he speaks, "Yangyang is probably training. He does that more often than we do. It's like his version of fun. There are other members as well, but these are the guys I'm closest to, so they live in this wing of the building. Based on your personality, I decided it would be better for you to stay in this wing as well."

Jungwoo displays an awkward smile and waves at the others, "Hello, I'm Jungwoo."

Ten's eyebrows scrunch together, "Are you sure this one belongs in Chicanery, he's too cute? He seems more Altruistic to me."

Doyoung rolls his eyes, "Believe me, he isn't too cute for Chicanery. He tried to pull a knife on me and then managed to both lie to me and sass me in a matter of seconds."

"Hey, I'm cute too, you know?" Donghyuck says with a pout.

"No, you're not" Both Renjun and Ten respond almost instantly. Renjun turns to face Jungwoo with a kind smile, "Ignore Donghyuck. I'm Renjun; it's nice to meet you."

Jungwoo shakes the smaller boy's hand, 'It's my pleasure. Even if I have no idea why I am here right now."

"You haven't explained it to him yet?" Donghyuck asks

"I wanted to show him around first," Doyoung responds simply.

"But shouldn't he know where he is and who we are first? Ten questions, "I thought you had more common sense than this. Dinner's ready though so we can just explain it to him while we're eating."

"I'll go get Yangyang," Renjun states before disappearing up the stairs.

Jungwoo takes a deep breath and follows the others to the table. He sits down and wonders whether or not their explanations will allow him to make sense of his situation or manage to confuse him more.

Ten comes out of the kitchen with two bowls of food in his hands. He sets one down in front of Jungwoo and one in front of his spot before looking at Donghyuck and Doyoung with a shit-eating grin. "You two can get your own."

"Wow what a nice person you are," Donghyuck comments sarcastically as he stands up from his chair.

As much as Jungwoo would love to tear up his food as soon as the dish is set down in front of him, he decides to sit quietly and wait for everyone else to arrive at the table.

"I can tell you're anxious," Ten laughs, "You're quite obvious. Don't worry, even though this seems sketchy and weird we really aren't dangerous."

Jungwoo moves his spoon around, "I don't think you guys have bad intentions. I just have no idea where I am."

"I understand, we've all been in your situation at one point."

Doyoung and Donghyuck arrive at the table, followed by Renjun and Yangyang not a minute later.

"Yangyang, this is Jungwoo. Jungwoo, Yangyang." Doyoung introduces the two before taking a bite of his food.

They wave to each other kindly but face Doyoung as he speaks. "So as we know, I have given Jungwoo a chance to join us in Chicanery. Since I'm sure you're confused, you are free to ask any questions you have as of now."

"Okay," Jungwoo looks down at his food and thinks for a moment before talking. "Where exactly is this place? Earlier you called it an escape from death?"

"You can think of it as a sort of afterlife. I brought you here right when you were about to die. Each contingent recruits people who would benefit them; I just happened to find you."

"What exactly do you mean by contingents?"

"Well, there are four of them. Each one is run under a different principle. Ours is Chicanery or deceit. It means we use the art of trickery to surpass the other clans and achieve power. The other clans are Acuity, who use their sharp senses and perceptiveness to fight. Their leader is Mark Lee. Next is Virile, who use their strength and force to get things done. Their leader is Johhny Seo. Finally, Altruistic uses their selfless attitudes to work together to take down a common enemy. They seem really brave, but it's just because they care more about others than themselves. Their leader is Lee Taeyong. Out of all the clans, they are the easiest to manipulate; the hardest is Acuity."

Jungwoo nods, understanding it a bit more. "Is there a leading clan right now?"

"You're currently in it, baby!" Ten says excitedly.

Doyoung, who was about to speak, glares at Ten. "Wow, I really appreciate you cutting me off. Thank you so much; it made my day."

"Any time, buddy."

Renjun coughs, glaring at the two.

"Right, my bad," Doyoung apologizes. "Any more questions?"

"Yes, am I able to go back to Earth?"

"You are, but if you fail to avoid your death, you won't have a second chance. When you get sent back, it'll be about 30 minutes before the moment you were meant to die."

A sigh escapes Jungwoo's mouth, "Okay."

"I know it's hard to understand, but you have at least two weeks to think about it. Before you ask, the spell that brought you here lasts for about that long so you can't leave until it fades away."

"Oh."

Sensing his worry, Ten rubs pats Jungwoo's back. "We'll all do our best to make you feel comfortable. When the time comes, you can decide whether or not you want to go back."

"Thank you." With that, their conversation ends. The rest of the dinner is spent silence. Perhaps they know Jungwoo needs time to think, or maybe no can find the right words to say.

As soon as everyone finishes eating, Doyoung speaks up, "It's getting late, so it would be best to show you your room now."

Looking down, Jungwoo fiddles with his sleeve, "Is it okay if Ten shows me instead?"

"Hm? What did you say? I couldn't hear you."

"Oh, uhm, nevermind."

Ten glances at Jungwoo and shakes his head, "He said that he wants me to take him to his room."

Doyoung tilts his head to the side, visibly confused by the request, but nonetheless compiles, "Go ahead."

With a curt nod, Ten stands up and brings the blond up with him. He leans toward Jungwoo and whispers into his ear, "Don't be so nervous, speak up for yourself; he's not as cold as he seems."

Jungwoo nods and walks up the stairs with Ten. "If you look close enough, he kind of resembles a bunny. Hopefully, that makes him seem less intimidating now."

Jungwoo holds back a chuckle, now that he thinks about it, Ten is right. He kind of does look like a bunny, especially when he eats.

"Your room is right next to mine by the way," Ten says once they reach the third floor. Leading Jungwoo down a small hallway and turning left, they arrive at Jungwoo's room after passing two other doors.

Ten opens the door and smiles at Jungwoo, "Your key is on the desk right there." Jungwoo takes a look around. The room's walls are painted a dark gray, the only furniture in the room is a bed and a small desk.

"It's a little plain, but you can buy some things if you want."

Jungwoo sits on the bed and nods. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"I have a little sister on Earth. What is happening with her, will she be okay?"

Jungwoo stiffens when Ten sighs, preparing to hear the worst. "It's hard to explain, but she'll be alright. She has no memory of you. No one does."

"What?"

"It's complicated." Ten runs his hand through his hair. "When you're brought here, everyone on Earth forgets about you. Anything that you did that affected their life never happened. You basically never existed on Earth."

"So if I go back no one will remember me?"

"No, that's the complicated part. When you go back, it'll be like you never left, and life will resume as it was 30 minutes before you died. At least it's like that when you're going back just after the spell ends in two weeks. If you're like me, however, and you've been here for a while, when you go back, false memories are put into people's minds so that they think you were always there during the time you left. Does that make sense?"

"Ya, I guess." Jungwoo lays on his back and stares up at the ceiling, too tired to fully take in everything that is happening. A quiet sigh escapes his lips.

Ten gives him an encouraging smile, "I understand that it's a lot to take in, but there's even more to explain. Just get some rest, we have a long day ahead of us."


End file.
